It's not every day that Danny Szetela records a brace.

 

In fact, it happens about once a decade, although no one on Cosmos B certainly was complaining after the veteran holding midfielder scored twice in a 4-1 win over the New York Athletic Club on Saturday night.

 

"It felt good," Szetela said. "I know a lot of my job is not to score goals, but when I get my opportunities I take my [chances]. I've been getting a lot of opportunities and wasn't doing the best with my opportunities. Today, I thought I should have had one in the first two minutes, but I'll take that first goal I scored today over the first two minutes."

 

Szetela believed the last time he tallied twice in a match was during the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, a 6-1 group-stage victory over Poland in Montreal, Canada on July 3, 2007. What made it doubly special was that both of the 30-year-old Szetela's parents were born in Poland and something else.

 

"It was at the time of my career I had to choose between playing for the U.S. national team or the Polish men's national team," Szetela said. "At the end of the day I decided to stay with the U.S. because it's where I grew up and I went to the Bradenton Academy. At the time, the coach of their first team said that, 'We had 200 players like Szetela in their country. It felt good to have two goals and an assist against Poland to show them that at least these 11 players I just played against aren't as good as me."

 

Fast forward to the National Premier Soccer League game at Commisso Stadium on Saturday night. With Cosmos B enjoying a 2-0 lead, Szetela, off a Wojciech Wojcik feed, sent a laser of a shot from just outside the penalty area in the 45th minute.

 

"What a goal!" head coach Carlos Mendes said. "What a first goal. Unbelievable. What a great goal. I'm happy for him.

 

"We told him he closed his eyes on that first goal. He had no idea where he hit it," Mendes added jokingly.

 

After Wojcik was fouled in the box, Szetela converted the ensuing penalty kick to the lower right in the 53rd minute for a four-goal advantage.

 

"He's vital for the team," Mendes said. "He works on the offensive end, the defensive end. Just happy he was able to get two goals. He gives us a lot."

 

Mendes was also encouraged by the performance of former Adelphi University midfielder Joey Sanchez, who scored Cosmos B's second goal, his first goal of the season.

 

It was Sanchez's first game back after being sidelined with a hamstring injury.

 

"Good to get him back," Mendes said. "He had a goal for his confidence. He's done it all for us, before he got injured. I think he'll have a lot of opportunities. He's got a bright future."

 

Sanchez was happy to contribute.

 

"It was very important for me mentally," he said. "It gets me going. It's good for the team. I don't really score many goals, but I try to get into spots where I can try to help out the team. It's a big goal for me."

 

Cosmos B (6-0-0, 18 points), which leads the North Atlantic Conference Division, will try to take another step toward clinching a playoff berth when it visits the Seacoast United Mariners (0-4-1, 1) on Saturday at 3 p.m.The top four teams in the 11-team division will reach the postseason after a 10-game regular season.